Aria stared at the village with a look of distaste. She'd always seemed more comfortable in cities (which of course makes perfect sense to me*), and this village was much smaller than what she was used to. It wouldn't be the size of the buildings, nor the foreign northern style that bothered her. It would be how the village seemed to abruptly end. Some part of her was ingrained with the notion that cities should just keep sprawling on forever.

The Italian government had sent her northward to ascertain the density of Subjects north of some arbitrary border around the French impactor. It was all very technical, and I frankly don't think Aria had much idea of what she was supposed to be doing. {[i]Ah! What do you mean? I've been perfectly competent.[/i]} She'd been more-or-less been wandering steadily northward from one randome town to another. {[i]Yeah, well Giovanni hasn't called me, hey. What's he expect me to do?[/i]} Flashes of text overlaid her vision periodically, describing what she'd just done. The visions were getting worse, harder to control, more pervasive. I don't think that she could remember how she even got to this particular village, not when you consider how long she'd been staring at the lonely dirt road leading into it.

With sudden determination, Aria shifted her gaze onto a brick wall. I don't want to think about what the locals thought of her. Perhaps they all thought she was just a crazily-determined tourist, braving radiation, depopulation, disgruntled governments, and Subjects just to get a bit closer to nature. She must have found the wall very fascinating, because she kept staring at it rather than move up into the nice little village ahead. {[i]Stop writing, for a second, would you? I'm getting a headache.[/i]} 

A passing boy stared at the strange lady who was talking to a brick wall before continuing on. Aria kept at it. The visions refused to leave. Given how long she'd been standing there, I've revised my theories. Aria was staring at a brick wall, trying to focus on reality, not the visions. Rather annoyingly, however, she kept seeing text describing her trying to stare at the brick wall so that she wouldn't have to [i]see[/i] the text describing her staring at a brick wall. {[i]Stop that.[/i]} But now the text seemed to be stuck in an infinite loop, {[i]Oh, God, no.[/i]} describing her staring at a brick wall so she could stop seeing the text about her staring at a brick wall so she could {[i]No.[/i]} stop seeing the text about her staring at a brick wall {[i]Argh! Enough![/i]} so she could stop seeing the text about her staring at a brick—. Mercifully, a voice in her head interrupted.

~Oh!~
~Is anyone out there? Hello?~

"Now what?" Aria asked the author. "You decided to start talking to me? Bad enough that you keep a freaky chronicle of my life, but now you want to actually talk to me? Am I even the only person who can hear you?" 

*Hello?*
~Hello? I’m out here I guess, depending on where here is for you.~

"Oh, marvelous. There's more of you. And I thought that the author was the only one," Aria said. She was (not that she knew it) uselessly speaking to thin air. "Maybe if I talk over you... people, I won't have to listen."

There was a mumbling buzz in her head. Apparently she [i]could[/i] talk over the voices, letting her ignore them.

"Maybe I'm just crazy," Aria said, not for the first time. "Hey there, voices! Welcome to the party! I can't wait to see what the author has to say about you." Aria paused. No visions of white text. Figures. Why would her powers actually be controllable for once? She tried to think some very specific thoughts at the author. Regrettably, I couldn't see them, because this isn't written in third person omniscient point of view.

No, really, Aria, you can stop trying that any time you like.

You look like a madwoman, you know. Staring at that wall. 

I'm sure that there's a lovely inn if you just walk a bit further into town. Come on. Just a bit further. Maybe you could make a friend. You like friends, right? OH! Of course. *ahem*. With a sudden flash, the visions of white text came back into view. The town ahead of her looked very nice; very quaint, and welcoming, like one might want to enter it and find a lovely inn to stay the night, perhaps indicative of the beginnings of a great adventure, or perhaps full of friends, waiting to be made.